Mpumalanga Black Aces Sold

Mpumalanga Black Aces chairmen, Mario and George Morfou, confirmed that they have sold the club to former Ajax Cape Town boss John Comitis with a statement on Monday.

Indications are that new Aces owner Comitis will retain the bulk of the current technical staff and players but details regarding the club’s new name or whether it will relocate to Cape Town remain sketchy.

Here is the full statement from the Morfou brothers:

“It is with extreme sadness and regret that the Chairmen of MPBA, Mario & George Morfou, hereby would like to confirm the sale of their club.

We are immensely proud to have achieved, what we have achieved over the past 13 years as owners of this franchise. This last season’s achievements were simply short of outstanding, thanks to a world class coach and a crop of highly ambitious players & staff.

When our late father passed away in 2011, his dying wish was that we take care of our mother and focus on the family business, Lakama; a hospitality and logistics company. Since then we have continued running the family business to the extent of its continuous growth. We are in the process of expanding and this requires our undivided attention and financial resources.

We have always had a very ‘hands on’ approach with the running of our club, and we have continuously at a huge personal & financial cost maintained the club.

With the expansion of our family business this has now become humanely impossible.

This has led us to the decision to accept the offer made to us by John Comitis to sell our PSL franchise.

We have made it a condition that the club remains in Mpumalanga.

Selling this club is like tearing out a piece of our hearts. We have played for this club, we have cried for this club and have bled for this club. The decision we made was not easy, but we did this for the good of our family business and ultimately for the good of the game.

All the players & staff contracts will be honoured and we believe that in John Comitis we have found an experienced and respectable football person to take the name further.”